1. Field of the Invention
An embodiment of the invention relates to electronic translation devices and methods for translating phrases from one language to another using an n-Way selective voice protocol.
2. Description of the Related Art
An Internet Protocol (IP) Private Branch Exchange (PBX) is a private branch exchange, or telephone switching system, that routes calls over an IP network for internal participants and provides access to outside lines. Typically, an IP PBX also switches calls between VoIP participants and callers on traditional telephone systems. These products are usually software packages running on a server or dedicated appliances. IP PBXs eliminate the need for a separate voice network, instead converging voice and data traffic on the same network. Existing products offer a variety of call-management features, such as voice-menu systems, call conferencing, click-to-call, call logging and tracking, voice mail and call forwarding. With their IP PBXs, companies can chose to use “soft-phones,” i.e., software-only implementations of IP phones that run on participant desktops, or traditional desktop phone sets designed to work over IP networks.
According to Robin Gareiss from Nemertes Research, organizations save 15% to 40% on their WAN costs when they move to VoIP, and the average saved is 23%. Three primary areas of saving are:
1. Migration to Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), typically from frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode or leased-line networks. VoIP is the driver to switch to MPLS, but the overall costs for the same-speed circuits are less. See http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/18007.
2. Integrated access, whereby companies combine voice and data over the same access lines, thus, eliminating underused pipes.
3. Integrated core circuits. Organizations combine their voice and data networks, resulting in an average use of 60% and peak use reaching 75% to 85% on extremely well-managed networks. They eliminate the need for idle, higher-speed circuits in the core.
MPLS has its roots in Ipsilon's™ IP Switching, Cisco's™ Tag Switching, IBM's™ ARIS™ technology and a few other proposals to bring the sort of traffic engineering found in connection-oriented Asynchronous Transfer Mode and frame relay networks to connectionless IP networks. The idea is to steer IP traffic onto a variety of routes instead of the single one discovered by an interior gateway protocol such as Border Gateway Protocol, to avoid congestion or failures, or to enable a particular class of service or guaranteed service level. MPLS switches and routers affix labels to packets based on their destination, type-of-service parameters, Virtual Private Network membership or other criteria. As a packet traverses a network, other switches and routers build tables associating packets and routes with labels. The MPLS switches and routers—dubbed label switch routers—assign each packet a label that corresponds to a particular path through the network. All packets with the same label use the same path—a so-called Label Switched Path (LSP). Because labels refer to paths and not endpoints, packets destined for the same endpoint can use a variety of LSPs to get there. Existing Internet switching systems (IP PBX) are optimized for routing packet from one endpoint to another. However, an application with VOIP packets has real-time processing requirements in addition to real-time routing requirements. Today, the communications using Voice over IP (VoIP) between different language speaking people can only be conducted with languages that both calling and receiving parties can understand/speak. As the companies integrate global resources into their work forces, the language barrier becomes a more important obstacle. This invention relates to electronic translation devices and methods for translating phrases from one language to another using an n-Way selective voice protocol.
In a development project, ineffective communication between a geographically disperse teams increases project risks and costs. Today, the communications over Voice IP (VoIP) between different language speaking people can only be conducted with languages that both calling and receiving parties can understand/speak or via an interpreter.
This invention extends existing VOIP networks to enable multi-participant simultaneous translation capabilities and services.